While sitting in for Glenn on today’s show, Doc and Kal talked about some of the new state laws for 2018. They couldn’t figure out why Oregon needed 750 new laws; how do you even think of that many things to tell people not to do?

Here are some of the new laws set to be effective in Oregon on New Year’s Day:

The gas tax will rise 4 cents to 34 cents.

The age limit to buy tobacco will increase to 21.

Oregon judges will be able to issue “extreme risk protection orders” taking away firearms from people deemed an immediate threat to themselves or family members.

Speed limits will be lowered from 25 mph to 20 mph for residential streets in Portland.

Women who are in the country illegally will be able to get an abortion paid for by taxpayers.

Riding public transportation without paying a fare will be downgraded from a Class A to a Class C misdemeanor (although penalties increase for anyone who evades fare three times or more).

Has Oregon passed up California as the most liberal state in the union? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

DOC: All right. We’re sharing some of the crazy new laws going into effect as of January 1st. And by crazy, that might be redundant. Crazy new laws. It’s just new laws, because most of them are going to be crazy. If you’ve been around for hundreds of years and you still need this many laws, yeah, this is more about you than actually creating a society where we can all live and just go about our business and try to excel.

Also in Oregon, family members or law enforcement will be able, as of Monday to go to a judge and ask them to remove the firearm from somebody who is deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Who is able to deem them a danger? I don’t know.

KAL: You said family members?

DOC: Yeah, family members or law enforcement can go to the judge. But I don’t know if it’s the family member, if it’s their standard: He didn’t eat his broccoli today. He’s a danger. I don’t know if it’s — or it has to have some sort — do you have to go talk to a professional. And even that professional, what type of professional? Who decides?

KAL: And do they investigate? And what are the standards?

DOC: I guess it’s like getting a subpoena from a judge. Can be like, yeah, sure.

KAL: Can’t you do that already? If I go to the police and I say, hey, my uncle Bob is a bit of a kook, and he’s — we think he’s a danger to himself. Plus, he’s got guns. I’d like you to check it out. You can do that already.

DOC: They can’t remove the gun. It’s more of, they can put him in an asylum for a certain amount of time.

KAL: Or at least put him on the radar.

DOC: Right. Or put him on the radar. And there are standards of how long he can be in and this stuff. But this specifically targets the firearm. And the judge then can say, you can’t possess a firearm for a year. Now, here’s the thing, they say you can’t. Of course, you can still just get one. Remember, Adam Lanza, who shot up the kids at Newton, Sandy Hook. Guess what, he didn’t own the gun. He stole his moms. This happens quite often. So this will do no good for what they hope it will do.

Also in Oregon, they’re expanding free reproductive health treatments for women, including abortions.

KAL: Ah.

DOC: Even for women who are in the country illegally.

Now, they don’t do so much for men’s reproductive health. Not a lot of free stuff for men. But a whole lot for the ladies.

KAL: And illegal.

DOC: And illegals, right.

KAL: Because they obviously should get everything.

DOC: If you’re an illegal woman, wow, Oregon is a place to be.

KAL: Really?

DOC: Wouldn’t that just be a beacon for you?

Some interesting new laws in Indiana. Starting Monday, using a drone to interfere with law enforcement, harass someone, or peep inside of a home is now a class A misdemeanor on Monday. It’s punishable up to a year in jail and a 5,000-dollar fine.

This is one of the few areas where I make exceptions and say, we need some new laws and some adjustments or tweaks to old laws. Technology. Budgets change every year, so you need to get together for the budget as a legislature. But new technologies, well, we never foresaw drones. Now these things are becoming a problem. So how do we fit those into current law?

DOC: As of Monday in Indiana, anyone who uses force to rescue a pet from a locked vehicle, is immune from criminal penalties. For example, if you go up to the car and it’s really hot and you see the dog suffering and you break the window, no criminal charges for breaking the car window of the car you don’t own, provided you have called the cops and you remain at the scene while the cops are getting there. So you call the cops. Go, come quick.

Fido is in the back of the car, and it’s really hot. And they go, we’re on our way. And you stand there. You break the glass. You cannot be criminally charged. However, you are still liable for half cost of any damage of the vehicle.

KAL: I’m okay with that one.

DOC: Just half of it? Okay.

KAL: If you’re someone who is — I guess it comes down to what is suffering or not. If somebody leaves their pet in the vehicle that could die or be harmed.

DOC: What about these stories where somebody says, I thought it was suffering pet, and it was a stuffed animal. I thought it was a baby, and it was a doll.

KAL: Oh, yeah.

DOC: So now they’re only responsible for half the window? And it’s my car. Do I have to pay the other half, my insurance? Sorry. It should include, if you get it wrong, you pay the whole damn thing, plus my time and effort to go down there and get it fixed. I don’t even want to have to make the call. And I don’t want to be without a car, none of that stuff. But they didn’t include that.

KAL: That’s for next year.

DOC: That’s it. Well, we need to leave something for next year.

KAL: 751.

DOC: Protection orders in Indiana on Monday can be issued by a judge. And they can now include an explicit prohibition against harming a family pet. These are protection owners for, like, domestic disputes. Taking custody of a pet away from the abuser with police assistance. And this is a new trend. New laws to protect pets.

In fact, one of the ones that they’re continuing to push. And you’re going to see this have a big spread in the next year or so. They’re going to push this idea of domestic abuse against pets.

So, you know, you go home.

KAL: Isn’t there any animal rights protection abuse?

DOC: There are animal laws in some areas and they vary. But what they’ll do is put this under the umbrella of domestic.

See, domestic disputes are different. Cops can press charges, even if a spouse says they don’t want to in many areas.

So if you punch me and the cop goes, all right, Doc, you punched her. I can say, I don’t. It’s Kal. He was just drunked up. I get it. No harm. No foul. I’m good. And they don’t have to press charges.

If a spouse does that, the officers have the right to press charges. Because so often, people were afraid and they said, no, no, no. We’re going to go ahead and push this thing through.

They want that to include pets too. Because they want people to conflate human lives with pets. You may love your pets, but they’re different. So this is going to expand in the future where you see domestic disputes can include, well, he slapped the dog or whatever. And you’re going to be locked up for that stuff.